*3.5 stars

Neither good nor bad. It was very easy to put down; nothing drove me to keep reading. Which is why it took me so long to finish.

Positives: I love Underwood's writing style. It had the right type of poetic-ness for this type of story. And the sapphic relationship was very sweet. I loved that this book was (mostly) its own story (this is definitely not a retelling in any way despite the original marketing. It’s just been inspired by the Odyssey and definitely could stand on its own without it).

I liked that the book dove into the three main characters’ povs. However, Mathias was a boring character to follow. His chapters didn't propel the story forward at all, especially in the first half. I didn’t feel any sympathy for him and was just patiently waiting for him to die. And unfortunately Leto’s and Melantho's chapters read very similarly. They weren't diverse enough in personalities for me to want to read from both of their povs. I didn’t dislike either of them but I also didn’t fall in love with them.

In all honesty, the most interesting person was the Athenian princess who shows up for a chapter. I would rather read about her adventures.

The middle of the book dragged; it was painful just waiting for them to kill the prince. The ‘will they, won’t they’ aspect of the plot was excruciatingly frustrating. The last fourth of the book was decent though.

I would recommend this to people who love reading stories inspired by ancient Greece (but personally, it’s not one of my favorites). I am glad I was able to read it!

This was disappointing. Not even getting into the drama of the author admitting she's never read The Odyssey in full (which is ridiculous when you're adapting and retelling a story so closely tied to that epic), the book is a bit of the mess. The concept is decent, I liked the ideas behind the story and the idea of giving female characters a larger role in a story they're mostly left out of, but the execution is pretty bad. The story reads like a surface level intro to ancient Greece and Greek mythology, outside of the myth directly associated with Penelope and her maids, there's very little mention of any other myths/legends/gods and the setting the author paints is very bland. The characters are inconsistent, which goes on to cause issues in the plot. The plot drags as soon as they reach the palace, and becomes a will they won't they story that's more annoying than suspenseful. The ending was not a surprise, but wholly unsatisfying. This is a pretty poor attempt at utilizing the mythology craze in YA publishing at the moment that not only falls flat, but fails to execute the myths it's adapting in any sort of interesting way. Definitely skip this one.

This has been one of my most anticipated reads of 2023 and I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to read it early. LIES WE SING TO THE SEA is a sapphic retelling focusing on the twelve maids from the Odyssey. For fans of Ancient Greek mythology, this is the book for you.

Since the very first page, it was as if a scaled arm pulled me deep into the book and refused to let go. From the beautiful prose, to the multi-POV characters, to the lush setting, I cannot wait for readers to dive into this story.

A genuinely engaging book with many twists.
I'm not a big fan of Ancient Greece so in the beginning, I thought I had picked the wrong book, but that quickly changed. The characters are fully fleshed out and the mythological aspects are deftly blended with Underwood's plot.
It seems there is an uproar because the author didn't read The Odyssey. Guess what? It doesn't matter because it's fiction. It's being touted as a retelling for marketing purposes. The author probably didn't even have a say.

The thing that bothers me is how young Leto is (12-ish). I guess she's considered an adult in an age where the life expectancy is 35-40, but I had a hard time not imagining her as a child.
*****Semi spoiler*****


I want to know what happens when Leto dies. Does Melantho dump Thalia or does she go for Mathias???

First of all, I’d like to be clear that I really don’t care whether the author read The Odyssey in its entirety or not. Could the marketing people at her publisher being smarter about calling a book that is three centuries removed from The Odyssey both a retelling and a direct sequel? Yes, but again, I don’t care.

I only cared about the story and I only expected to like the story until I read the book. I hated Matthias’ character from the beginning, I’m not going to lie. I don’t really understand white people’s obsession with the ‘not like other princes’ trope. We get it, heavy is the head, bla bla bla. The self-pitying royal thing is boring to me, I’m sorry. If you like that sort of thing, you’ll probably have a much better reading experience than me.

I hope a lot of people do have a better reading experience than me. It’s not a bad book. It’s not on the prose and storytelling level of Madeline Miller, and here I feel like the publisher is doing the author another disservice with the comparison, but it does grab you from the first line and it is, when we’re in Leto’s perspective, propulsive and interesting. Melantho also has an interesting voice for me, but I like sad girls.

I could have spent all the time with them, but every time the book is interrupted by Matthias’ self-pity, I just wanted to give up, and eventually, I did.


Thanks to NetGalley and HarperTeen for this ARC.

I really enjoyed this book and where the author took the characters in there journey. It was full of action and adventure which I really love on a story. The author gave a very unique plot which allowed the story to easily flow without ever getting boring. Great read!

A dreamy debut that reimagines Greek myth, specifically aspects of the Odyssey, through a Sapphic lens. Lovely prose!